What makes you eat?

[cathy]

For some people it's stress. For some it's boredom. I eat when I'm tired - and unfortunately I've been tired a lot lately thanks to two young kids. My struggle is to NOT eat when I'm tired. Sometimes I'm successful, and sometimes I'm not.

What makes you eat and what do you do to stop eating?

[Lisa Newton]

For me, it's stress, which I have a lot of these days. I'm not bored too often, so that's out for me. As long as I keep some fresh fruit and vegetables ready to eat in my fridge, I'm usually good to go.

[cathy]

Interestingly enough (well, at least to me), I tend to NOT eat when I'm stressed out.

[Christopher]

I eat when I am stressed, most the time I get hungry at night after making love. I hate to eat druing the day when it is hot. I love to snack on fruits and veggies all day and have a big supper. (this is how not to eat) :)

[Slim]

For me, it is not following a food plan, or if you are on a diet not being rigorously honest, nudging the amount of food, adding a little more than what one is supposed to consume. I try to remember the domino effect. First it's a sliver, then a slice, then a slab, then a side of, then it's the whole . . . whatever. What do I do to stop eating? I don't fall off the wagon. I stay on my food plan, diet no matter what is happening in my life. The way I like to think about it is if I have a problem (stress, tiredness, anger, loneliness) in my life and I eat over it, then I will have two problems instead of one. Whether it's an addiction or one's love for food, there is always an excuse to eat and a reason not to stop.

[Metroknow]

I'm definitely a stress eater. And I tend to eat when I'm procrastinating - if there is a task I don't want to do, I seem to reach for something to eat!

[David]

I think you've hit the main reasons. For me, typically I find myself eating more then I ususally do out of boredom.

[Susana]

Hmm... stress at work definitely! Since I have been at home for a while, I have a discipline... but no money :(

[Susana]

Kimberly, the article you mention sounds very interesting. Do you have the link for that? I would like to read it. Thanks!

[Jody]

Hmmm. I eat because my body needs nutrition. I eat to entertain myself. I eat to celebrate. I eat when I'm tired or stressed. But I'm working on becoming aware of the reasons, and making other choices if nutrition isn't what's actually being craved.

I think the question is interesting. You say "What makes you eat and what do you do to stop eating?" To me (and judging from the responses so far, to others as well), that sounds like eating is a bad thing. But eating is something we need to do to stay alive and to thrive and to live extraordinary lives.

I've really been examining the things I tell myself recently. (In fact, I wrote about it here.) I think language is incredibly powerful, and saying to myself, I have to stop eating translates as "eating is bad." Which, in my overactive brain, becomes "food is bad," and "I am bad for wanting food." Or certain foods. And that seems self-defeating. So I think it's more effective to ask what makes you stop listening to your body? What makes you reach for food for something other than the nourishment it's able to provide? (Like Slim says, that creates two problems.) And what else would nourish you in that circumstance, perhaps in a more effective way (e.g. a hug, a nap, a good cry, a phone call to a friend, a great book, a moment of dancing...)?

Thanks for the discussion - it's a very valuable question!

[Lori]

Almost anything can make me eat. I eat when I am happy, sad, mad, bored, tired, lonely and every other emotion or feeling that is out there. Mostly though it comes down to one thing - I eat to fill a hole inside of me. I eat to fill a need. I think I am still trying to figure out what gets me to stop.

[Fake Food Free]

When I am mindful I eat for both taste and nutrition. Taste usually comes first if I'm being honest, but nutrition is on my mind.

When it comes to unhealthy triggers it is without a doubt stress. I've gotten to the point where I can actually recognize it in myself. The feelings build up and I notice myself eating more and more.